1. Field
One or more embodiments relate to a heat exchanger, more particularly, a heat exchanger having an improved refrigerant-distributing structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a heat exchanger is equipped with a tube in which refrigerant is circulated to exchange heat with outside air, a heat-exchanging fin in contact with the tube to increase a heat-radiating surface, and a header communicating with both ends of the tube. The heat exchanger can be utilized as an evaporator or a condenser, and can perform a cooling cycle when equipped with a compressor for compressing the refrigerant and an expansion valve for expanding the refrigerant.
The heat exchanger has an inlet pipe and an outlet pipe, the refrigerant flowing into the heat exchanger through the inlet pipe can be distributed to a plurality of tubes through the header. In order to increase the efficiency of heat exchange, it is required to uniformly distribute the refrigerant to a plurality of tubes, and thus two or more inlet pipes may be provided according to a refrigerant flow rate.
However, since increasing the number of the inlet pipes impedes reduction of manufacturing cost and securing of design space, a structure which has one inlet pipe and can improve distribution of the refrigerant is required.
Moreover, in a heat exchanger equipped with a large number of approximately 36 or more tubes, it is not easy to uniformly distribute the refrigerant in practice.